Deer around Multnomah Falls
Posted: August 21st, 2019, 10:29 am
As I came around a bend just shy of the switchback #8 marker on the trail to the top of Multnomah Falls this morning, I almost walked smack into three deer standing in the middle of the trail. A mom and two little ones. That was a surprise! There were some picture-snapping young people coming along behind me that I worried would try to get a selfie or pet them or some foolishness--gentle and skittish as they may look, a deer is plenty capable of messing a person up if it gets a mind to--so I clacked my poles and made noise etc until they moved a relatively safe distance away from the trail. They didn't seem too impressed with me, but they did eventually move along.
This got me thinking. It's not that uncommon to spot deer from those switchbacks. I've seen them calmly munching away with big crowds gathered to gawp at them, so they're clearly used to having humans close. Crowds of clueless tourists + acclimated wildlife is usually a recipe for problems, but I can't remember ever hearing or seeing so much as the usual benign warnings not to approach or feed wildlife, let alone reports of problem encounters. Curious if anyone remembers anything like that ever happening.
Further along as I came up to the Devil's Rest junction there were a bunch of grouse on the trail. Most of them stepped off into the brush as I got close, but one just jogged along in front of me, keeping a steady 6' or so distance. She kept that up for a surprisingly long ways! A jogging grouse is a pretty hilarious site.
I didn't get started until close to 8, so the wildlife just casually hanging out that late into the morning tells me tourist season is well and truly winding down at last.
This got me thinking. It's not that uncommon to spot deer from those switchbacks. I've seen them calmly munching away with big crowds gathered to gawp at them, so they're clearly used to having humans close. Crowds of clueless tourists + acclimated wildlife is usually a recipe for problems, but I can't remember ever hearing or seeing so much as the usual benign warnings not to approach or feed wildlife, let alone reports of problem encounters. Curious if anyone remembers anything like that ever happening.
Further along as I came up to the Devil's Rest junction there were a bunch of grouse on the trail. Most of them stepped off into the brush as I got close, but one just jogged along in front of me, keeping a steady 6' or so distance. She kept that up for a surprisingly long ways! A jogging grouse is a pretty hilarious site.
I didn't get started until close to 8, so the wildlife just casually hanging out that late into the morning tells me tourist season is well and truly winding down at last.
